


Blood and Dust

by Tychii



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Gen, He still loves Sans, Headcanon, I did math for the STATS, Is it platonic? Is it romantic? You decide!, Papyrus (Undertale) Knows More Than He Lets On, Sadist Papyrus, serial killer papyrus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2020-06-02 02:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19432408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tychii/pseuds/Tychii
Summary: Sometimes pranks go too far, and sometimes you discover your own sadistic and/or murdery tendencies. Papyrus really knew what he was doing. Really.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short story, it has a few more chapters, like 1 or 2. But I haven't written them yet so... yeah... enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale, no matter how much I might want to, as it belongs to Toby Fox.

Papyrus went to find Flowey, the timeline was reaching the end and Flowey had asked him to meet up with him, just like every single Pacifist ending. Sighing he walked up to Flower and greeted him.

"Howdy, Papyrus!" Flowey greeted him back. "Anyway, you know the drill, call everyone to the Barrier and then I fight Frisk and you all get to the surface for a month before RESETing."

He nodded and started walking back to where he came from.

"Hey, Papyrus? Ever thought about messing with the human?" Flowers asked casually.

"Hmm? I Do Not Understand What You Mean, Flowey." Papyrus stopped walking and turned towards him. "It Does Not Sound Very Nice."

"No, no, I mean pranking them! Just some harmless pranks!" Flowey exclaimed, waving his leaves around. "Maybe it'll cheer them up and they'll stop RESETing?"

Papyrus grinned, "THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA!"

Flowey smiled sinisterly when Papyrus continued walking towards the Barrier, his cellphone in his hand, already starting to call everyone over.

\--------

They were staring at the figure in front of them. It was covered in honey, neon pink glitter and feathers from the top of its head to the bottom of its feet.

"SANS? IS THAT A HUMAN?" Papyrus asked, trying not to laugh at the expression on the humans face. They looked so unimpressed.

"yeah, i think so bro" Sans replied, sounding confused. The timelines were starting to differ from one another. Someone had been pranking the kid in practically every timeline, and while funny, it meant that someone could remember the timelines like him, since every time the prank was different. He didn't know how it was possible but he really needed to find out who it was.

\--------

He stared in shock at the small, blood covered form of Frisk. Blood was sluggishly falling from their head and their skin was turning purple from the cold. Sans lifted the human up bridal style and took a shortcut to his house, grabbing a bunch of healing food and trying to get them to eat it.

"who or what did this to you, kiddo?" Sans mumbled as he felt Frisk's breath start to slow before it stopped completely and the world around them reLOADed.

\--------

_Meanwhile with Papyrus_

Papyrus looked at his STATS and frowned when he saw his LV glitching from 1 to 2 and back again until it settled on 1.

"I didn't think you had it in you, Pa-py-rus~" Flowey purred as he appeared in front of him.

"What Are You Talking About, Flowey?" Papyrus asked, the feeling of dread weighing on his bones

"You killed them. You killed Frisk." Flowey maniacally laughed.

"No, I Didn't! I Would Remember Something Like That!" Papyrus denied.

"Oh yeah? Well, that last 'prank' made them stuck in a tree outside in the cold and they fell off, hitting their head. Sans found them and tried to heal them but failed, like he always does," Flowey mutter the last part before continuing strongly, "and they died of blood loss and hypothermia."

"O-Oh..." Papyrus whispered.

"We Can't Let Something Like That Happen Again!" he exclaimed a few seconds later.

"What! Why not?"

"These Pranks Were Supposed To Be Fun! The Human Getting Hurt Isn't Fun!"

"Isn't it?"

"What?" Papyrus blinked in shock at the flower.

"I said, 'Isn't it?'. I think it's fun. And you obviously think so too." Flowey smirked.

"N-No..."

"Admit it. Don't lie to yourself. You liked the feeling, no matter how brief, of your LV going up. You don't need to worry though. After all, because of their ability, they'll just come back." Flowey told him, before continuing upon not seeing him respond, "It would be revenge, they killed you so many times, it would only be fair to respond in kind, wouldn't it?"

Papyrus didn't answer and walked out the door to start up the routine.

\--------

Red liquid was running down the humans face, blood dripping on their clothes and staining their sweater. Frisk stared at Papyrus, who was standing a little behind Sans, but he just looked back to them, not bothering to hide the smirk that appeared on his face.

Over the past few RESET's Papyrus had started deviating from the script whenever he was alone with the human. The pranks had become traps ever since the first time the human accidentally died from one of them. They became deadlier and deadlier, more and more painful. Frisk had grown slightly afraid of him as he acted more and more creepy and bloodthirsty in their battles. They started feeling like he was _letting_ them win, dusting with a smirk on his face.

Sans frowned when he saw fear in the human's eyes, _open because of the Genocide Run, wanting to see how everyone dusted because of them,_ when his brother and approached.

"jeez kid, what happened to you?" Sans asked, moving forward to heal them. They shuffled back quickly, looking at something behind him. He looked behind him, but he could only see his brother. "hey, kiddo, i'm not gonna hurt ya," Sans told them, moving slowly and letting his hands glow green with Kindness Magic, green magic.

They didn't answer but allowed Sans to heal them. When Sans asked them who hurt them, Frisk shook their head, refusing to reply to his question.

Meanwhile, Flowey gulped at the dust piles in front of him. Frisk hadn't killed these, a certain skeleton had. He was starting to regret telling Papyrus to get revenge, he truly hadn't expected the seemingly innocent skeleton to be able to do something like that. Flowey had watched the skeleton practically tear the Monsters apart, slowly and painfully, not allowing their HP to drop more than a couple of digits at a time.

This was getting out of hand, he had to tell someone. He had to stop Papyrus. Because when a Monster kills another Monster, while the RESET brings the Monster back the LV doesn't get RESET too, unlike Frisk, whose LV returns to 1 after a RESET. The only person who wouldn't give him LV when killed is Frisk because they always come back.

Sans was totally oblivious to his brother's change in attitude, even Undyne had realised that something was wrong with Papyrus.

Sans! That's who he should tell!


	2. Part 2

Sans had no idea what was going on anymore. It was a terrible feeling that he wasn't used to. At least, not anymore. Because of the RESET's, Sans had gotten used to knowing close to everything that was going on in the Underground. And while at first he hated it, Sans ended up practically using it as a security blanket, a safety net.

However, a couple of RESET's ago, someone started pranking the human. At first, Sans didn't really mind it, even having a good laugh at some of the things that started happening. But then the 'pranks' started being less and less fun, and more and more harmful to the human, sometimes even outright killing them. It had to be someone who knew and remembered the RESETs, because the... _trap_ was different with every RESET. Sans tried to figure out who was doing it, wanting whoever it was to stop. He doubted Flowey was the one doing it. Flowey liked LV and all that, but he wasn't that fond of torture. Not to mention that Flowey is a lot more straightforward, he wouldn't use traps.

As Sans was attempting to figure out who was the one doing it, Flowey popped up before him, stopping him in his tracks.

"what do you want flowey? i'm busy right now." Sans drawled, moving around the flower.

"Huh~ then I guess that you don't want to know who the one making all those traps is!" Flowey smirked at him. Sans wasn't in the mood for Flowey's mind games and went to yeet it away with a bone attack, however he stopped before even summoning the bone. Flowey looked... terrified, for the lack of a better word. The usual smug smirk was nowhere to be seen. But the only person, or thing, that Sans knew that made Flowey afraid, was a Genocidal Frisk.

"you know who's causing them?" Sans questioned Flowey.

"Of course I know who's causing them! I wouldn't have sought you out otherwise!" Flowey snarled at him.

"well then?" Sans asked impatiently, "who is it? i'm supposed to meet with papyrus in a moment, so hurry up."

Sans immediately noticed that Flowey seemed to pale when he mentioned his brother. Flowey took a deep breath, and then told him: "It's Papyrus."

"what? what did you just say?" Sans asked in disbelief "did you just say that my brother is behind the constant murder and torture of the human? my brother doesn't even know about the RESET's, it's impossible for him to do this."

"I'm telling you, it's Papyrus! He always remembered my RESET's, and he remembers all of Frisk's too!" Flowey scowled at him "If you don't believe me, then CHECK your brother! He has been dusting Monsters a lot too, so he should have LV."

Sans shook his skull and walked behind a tree to shortcut to Waterfall.

* * *

Sans and Papyrus had agreed to meet at the bench in Waterfall, the one where Sans had hidden a quiche underneath. Sans walked towards it and sat on the bench, waiting for Papyrus. He had arrived a bit early to take a nap. But for once, he had a hard time falling asleep, Sans was thinking about Flowey's words. He doubted that he was telling the truth, but... a simple CHECK wouldn't hurt, would it? Sans hadn't CHECK'ed his brother since the fifth RESET...

Sans' CHECK was different from other Monsters, which was the reason that he was the Judge. When a Monster CHECK'ed someone, they used general white magic, HOPE magic. That made one's Name, HP, ATK, DEF, and some general INFO. The INFO part could be edited by the Monster being CHECK'ed... sometimes. Very few Monster could manipulate their own INFO. Healers used green magic, KINDNESS magic, and were able to see EFFECTS. EFFECTS showed positive and negative things that were influencing the one being CHECK'ed, things like depression, illness etc. show up in that CHECK, some Monsters call it a SCAN.

He, on the other hand, was able to use JUSTICE magic to CHECK someone. It was called a JUDGEMENT. It showed the LV, EXP and sometimes the WHY someone did it, which helped if someone gained LV or EXP from self-defence. When he CHECK'ed someone, unlike a normal CHECK, it was impossible to tell whether he CHECK'ed or not. The human had started the No Mercy Runs with self-defence LV/EXP, but as they went through the Underground, they started deliberately gaining LV and EXP, gaining KARMA in the process. Frisk's KARMA why he was able to do so much damage to the human, because of his JUSTICE magic he had something called Karmic Retribution, why allowed a poison-like effect to appear with every hit. Of course, the reason why he could hit them so many times a second was because of his Space/Time manipulation.

Sans sighed and waited a little more for Papyrus to arrive. A few minutes later Papyrus appeared, and now that Sans was looking for it, he could see some sort of white powdery substance cling to Papyrus' gloves and scarf. _Dust_. Sans immediately CHECK'ed Papyrus.

* * *

**Papyrus / HP 952**

**ATK 28 / DEF 28**

**LV 3 / EXP 42**

*** Everything will be alright again.**

*** Soon.**

* * *

Sans' sockets widen a tad bit, but otherwise he was careful not to show that he CHECK'ed him. Flowey... had been right?

He felt a strange calm settle over him, and Sans reflected on his thoughts quickly. Did this change anything?

Yes.

Yes, it did.

But not in a bad way. Sans still loved Papyrus with his whole being, Papyrus was his reason to keep going, and he would never abandon him. Never.

"paps?"

"YES, BROTHER?"

"why didn't you tell me that you remembered the RESET's?"

Papyrus froze for a second, looking like a deer in headlights. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, BROTHER?" Papyrus forced out.

"and you also didn't tell me about your LV. even though i have told you to tell me immediately if it goes up."

"You Told Me To Tell You If It Goes Up While I'm A Part Of The Royal Guard. I Have Not Reached That Goal Yet, And Since It Will Disband When On The Surface, I Doubt That I'll Ever Be A Part Of It." Papyrus shrugged.

Sans narrowed his sockets at him, before sighing.

"Sans? Are You Mad?"

"i'm not mad, bro" Sans told him, before continuing, "you're so lucky, paps, that LV influences monsters differently than humans. humans start to lose their emotions, while monsters don't lose their emotions. our emotions dull to the point of nonexistence, and we hyperfocus on a single person, essentially obsessing over them. The person or concept we focus on is the only thing a monster with high LV will be able to feel strong emotions for."

"How Do You Know All Of This, Brother?" Papyrus questioned him.

"books, of course!" Sans nervously laughed, before sighing, "a lot is also from before monsters were sealed underground."

Papyrus nodded. He knew that his brother was one of the few Monsters to be born on the Surface, and able to remember things from there. Sans had been 4 years old, in human age, when Monsters were Sealed. Papyrus himself was born a little after that.

"Sans? What Or Who Is My Focus?" Papyrus frowned.

"i don't know, bro. the best way to find that out is to think about what inspires the strongest emotions in you." Sans shrugged. "you're LV isn't that high, so your emotions aren't that dulled yet."

Papyrus nodded and tried to think about his Focus...

"I... I Think That You Are My Focus..." Papyrus muttered.

Sans sighed, before smiling at Papyrus and holding his arms out toward him. With no hesitation, Papyrus lifted Sans up in a near bone-crushing hug.

"no worries, paps. i'll always love you. no matter what." Sans promised him.

"No Matter What?" Papyrus mumbled into Sans' hoodie.

"no matter what." Sans repeated, and smiled a real smile at him, "that's a promise, and you know how serious i take promises."

"you have a plan though, don't you?" Sans asked him after a few seconds into the hug.

"Y-Yeah! Of Course I Do! I Am THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AFTER ALL!" Papyrus yelled out with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Headcanon's in this xD
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! Only one more part to write for Blood and Dust.


	3. Part 3

A couple of RESET's had passed and all of Papyrus' STATs had increased because of his higher LV. His emotions had noticeably began to dull and Undyne had become worried about his weird behavior. Sans, on the otherhand, had started to get more active, seemingly having beat his depression into a tiny box and thrown away the key. He helped with the dishes, cleaned his room, cooked something and even moved his sock! Sans has daily been telling Papyrus how much he cared about him, that no matter what, he would always love him and that nothing would be able to change that, no matter what.

Papyrus has never felt so loved.

The human on the otherhand has ben getting more and more paranoid, Monsters were going missing, dust was appearing that they hadn't spilled and they were dying faster and faster the moment they met up with Papyrus, something they were unable to avoid no matter what they try. Chara seemed to know what was happening but they refused to tell them. Thy stopped trying to take over and left everything up to Frisk, something that confused them greatly, though it was a welcome change.

Before they could get lost in their thoughts once more, Papyrus appeared in front of them. The last couple of RESET's, they had opted for exploring the Neutral Routes once more, since Papyrus seemed to go slightly easier on them when they don't do the Genocide ones.

"HUMAN," he started before correcting himself, "FRISK. THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST RUN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE SURE OF THIS."

"Heh, bring it on." Frisk smirked. They preferred not to talk but that didn't mean they couldn't, and the really liked to talk during a FIGHT, taunting these _monsters_ into revealing their true self. Unfortunately, Papyrus seemed to be the only one this really worked on.

Papyrus immediately send multiple bone attacks their way, forcing Frisk to dodge to the best of their ability. They frowned.

Papyrus' attack pattern was different.

Frisk thought that that was unchangeable! Sans had not even once changed up the pattern when he had been fighting against them.

With difficulty, they dodged bones and Blasters. The only real advantage they had was their RESET, LOAD and SAVE abilities, which were really unbelievable right now since they couldn't RESET unless they died and they couldn't reLOAD because their previous SAVE was right before the battle, which meant that they couldn't do anything to avoid it.

Frisk decided to RESET the moment it became obvious that they couldn't win. They let a bone impale them and closed their eyes waiting for the next one, the one that would finish the job.

*** But nobody came**

Frisk opened their eyes and looked up to Papyrus in confusion. Why didn't he just kill them?

"Did You Really Think I Was Going Yo Kill You? Human, If I Did That, You Would Just RESET." Papyrus grinned maliciously at them. Sans appeared behind him, and watched Papyrus' plan.

"papyrus, what is the plan again?" He asked quietly.

"I'm Going To Force A RESET, And Take Away The Humans Ability To Do So At The Same Time."

"yeah, i got that part. what i didn't get is how."

"By Having More DETERMINATION Than Them Of Course!" Papyrus grinned, before strolling towards to the human.

Frisk, meanwhile, tried to free themselves and started to panic when their efforts didn't seem to pay off. They shook their head, terror on their face as the watched Papyrus get closer to them.

Papyrus summoned a Gaster Blaster and pointed it at them, and as it charged, right before he Blasted them, he threatened them: "THIS WILL BE THE LAST RESET! MAKE IT A PACIFIST ONE. UNDERSTOOD?"

The moment the human nodded, he Blasted them, he turned to smile reassuringly at Sans.

As the human died, their SOUL rose from their body and started to float a few inches above their body. Papyrus could vaguely see a black, yellow lined, box with the word RESET on it. He pressed it before the human could, and willed DT into it. Surprisingly, he didn't need to use too much of it, and he managed to RESET the world.

Within a few moments, the woke up back in their rooms, and Sans walked to Papyrus' room and climbed into his bed. Papyrus tugged him onto his chest and hugged him close as they fell asleep.

* * *

Sans woke up and curled up against Papyrus' side. He didn't want to get up yet.

"C'mon, Brother, We Have To Get Up." Papyrus told him as he slowly woke up. Sans sighed and got up.

"we have to meet up with frisk now, don't we?"

"Yes Brother." Papyrus nodded and went to his closet to put on his 'Battle Body'. "This Will Be The Last RESET. I Promise You."

Sans nodded and went to put his own clothes on, ready to go through the script one last time. 

* * *

Frisk went ahead and did as told, having a Pacifist Run. As all of them were looking over the sunset, Papyrus and Sans had come prepared. All of their important thing were safe in their inventory, and they took care not to leave anything behind that would allow anyone to find them.

As everyone started to go down the mountain, the two skeletons sneaked away, walking to the opposite direction from where the others where going. They remembered an abandoned house there, and they could stay there, away from the others, while they gathered enough money to move farther away and get a house of their own.

Their relationship would remain ambiguous, they could never really understand they were just close as brothers or... **closer** than brothers.

* * *

A lone figure could be seen through the trees, walking on the edge of the woods, closer to the cement of the city than the green of the forest. A blue light appeared for a second before it disappeared once more.

A short figure seemed to nod towards the lone human one and the tall one summoned a sharp whip made out of bones. The tall one hit quickly, the whip wrapping around the humans neck and strangling it, the sharp bones piercing through the flesh easily. Within a few moments it was over, the struggling of the human ceased and a tune only heard by the tall one sounded, signaling that his LV increased. 

The tall one seemed to hug the short one before they started to walk off. When they were behind a tree, they disappeared and only occasionally were they seen, always close to murders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took sooooo long to post this and I almost didn't. The story didn't really work out the way I imagined at first but I lost interest in this, so I just kinda... Wrapped it up? I'm sorry if this isn't what you expected...

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, please leave a Kudos and/or a comment to show it! How else am I supposed to know?  
> Thank you for clicking on the story!


End file.
